Orthodox Roundtable - Early History

Early History

The initial organization of the Roundtable was undertaken in the Spring of 1988 by Rabbi Jeffrey Woolf, at the behest of prominent lay and rabbinic leaders from Riverdale, NY, where he resided. Woolf, who had studied for ten years under Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik and was a doctoral candidate at Harvard University, was suggested to the founders as a good representative of Modern Orthodox principles. Over the next few months, a group of prominent Orthodox Rabbis agreed to join the initiative. Most, though not all, were graduates of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) of Yeshiva University, and had themselves studied under Rabbi Soloveitchik.

The initial core group included: Rabbis J. Simcha Cohen, Reuven Bulka, Yosef Adler, Haskel Lookstein, Marc Angel, Yitz Greenberg, Jacob J. Schacter, Daniel Landes, Mark Dratch, Michael Broyde, Louis Bernstein, Abner Weiss, Daniel Tropper and Saul Berman. The group was later joined by Rabbis Simcha Weinberg and Adam Mintz. In the interim Rabbi Schacter resigned from the group. Rabbis Cohen and Bulka were elected as co-chairmen. Rabbi Woolf was appointed as Executive Chairman.